The invention relates to a method for controlling an internal combustion engine, wherein an ignition control device is prompted by control signals of an engine control device to activate an ignition device, by means of which an ignition of a fuel-air mixture in a cylinder of the internal combustion engine is affected.
Spark-ignition combustion engines such as gasoline engines are controlled by an engine control device which prompts an ignition control device by means of control signals to activate ignition devices associated with the individual cylinders of the internal combustion engine and thus to effect an ignition of a fuel-air mixture. Spark plugs generating an arc discharge for an ignition can be used as ignition devices, for example, or corona igniters generating a corona discharge for an ignition can also be used.
In conventional methods for controlling an engine, a first edge of a control signal prompts the ignition control device to switch on the respective ignition device, and a second edge of the control signal prompts the ignition control device to switch off the ignition device. Thus, such methods use a pulse as a control signal, wherein the duration of the pulse determines for how long the ignition device is to be activated, thus, for how long an arc or a corona discharge is to be generated, for example.
Performance and consumption of an engine are substantially influenced by the ignition times of the individual cylinders. The goal of each ignition control of an engine is therefore to effect an ignition of the fuel-air mixture that is in each case as close as possible to the optimal ignition time.